


fool that you made me

by nuttyshake



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/F, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Cheating, but catra and glimmer do explore their feelings on the side, catradora and glimbow are endgame, no actual cheating involved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29433927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nuttyshake/pseuds/nuttyshake
Summary: Five times Adora and Bow thought Catra and Glimmer were cheating on them, and one time they didn't.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 98
Collections: whispering woods library valentines day fic exchange





	fool that you made me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fuhadeza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuhadeza/gifts).



> I wrote this as part of a Valentine's Day Fic Exchange! The prompt I chose was " _any sort of glitra that doesn't undermine the canon ships. especially if catra teases glimmer relentlessly (and publicly) for having had an inappropriate crush on her during the war & then glimmer turns the tables on her_".
> 
> Ngl - my first reaction was "Damn, I want to write this - but I already have". So before we get started, I'm just going to shamelessly plug [my other Glitra fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25391905) as well - two cakes and all that. 
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day Filip, I really loved coming up with this and I hope you enjoy it too!!

**i.**

Adora had been waiting for Catra for the past hour.

It wasn’t the first time her girlfriend showed up late to one of their dates, especially since both of them had been so busy in the past few weeks - but _one hour_ had, until now, been unheard of. Adora had let her hair down for this, tried on a new suit, even applied a touch of make-up - and she’d ended up sitting in the trail of roses she herself had left behind, leading from the castle to the edge of the Whispering Woods.

A firefly flew in front of her, lighting up the still empty path. Catra wasn’t coming.

Adora forced herself to be reasonable. Maybe she’d forgotten, or fallen asleep. That happened to Adora all the time, and Catra had been kind enough to never bring it up to her, knowing how much was always on Adora’s mind. Adora should probably do the same.

She’d just go back to the castle, probably find Catra milling about in their room, wondering where Adora had gone - and then she’d see her all dressed up, remember what day it was, and they’d just have to follow the trail back together.

She sighed, getting to her feet. Stargazing could wait. She hadn’t seen Catra all day, and all she cared about was getting to her as soon as possible. Maybe she’d ask a ride from Swift Wind, even.

It was in that moment that Catra, quite literally, popped into existence with Glimmer in tow, then immediately fell onto her haunches and dry-heaved.

_“Again? Seriously?”_

“I’m sorry!” Glimmer squeaked. “You didn’t want to lose any more time!”

“What’s going on?” Adora asked, helping Catra get up. She looked a little scruffed, and like she could puke any second, but she was _here_ at last. Wearing Adora’s favorite cologne, too. “Catra, where were you? I was worried.”

Catra growled under her breath. “I was busy with Sparkles here and lost track of time.”

That wasn’t too unusual these days, either. Maybe that was exactly why it left a bad taste in Adora’s mouth. “Doing what?”

“Oh, things got rowdy in Salineas,” Glimmer explained, a bit too carelessly. “A new pirate crew docked in Seaworthy, they had it out for Sea Hawk. You know how things go.”

Adora gaped. “You’ve been in Salineas _all day_?” They’d left early in the morning.

“And now we’re here,” Catra confirmed, leaving no room for questions. “Look, sorry I’m late - I’ll make it up to you."

"I'm just going to get out of your hair, then." Glimmer clapped her hands together. "Have fu-un!"

And she disappeared again - in a cloud of glitter and sandalwood.

**ii.**

“Bow!” Adora’s voice reached him in the hallway just as she did, casually slinking her arm around his neck. “My friend, my best bud. HaveyounoticedanythingweirdaboutGlimmer?”

She slurred together the last part of her sentence, eyes flickering between the way she’d come from and the way they were going.

Bow usually welcomed hugs and physical closeness from Adora - God knew that girl had been touch-starved for years of her life - but he was getting worried. “Define _weird_.”

“Like, I don’t know. Do you ever think she might be cheating on you?”

Bow froze in his tracks. He _knew_ he should’ve gotten Glimmer a pink jumpsuit instead of a light blue one. She probably felt underappreciated. “Adora, do you _know_ something?”

Adora was looking down at her own feet, kicking invisible pebbles down the pristine clean hallways of Bright Moon. “It’s just, she’s been spending a lot of time with Catra-”

“Catra,” Bow echoed, disbelieving. Just like that, his anxiety went down the drain. “You’re worried she’s cheating on me with _Catra_.”

“Bow, I don’t even remember the last time they brought us along on one of their missions. And do you really buy that they went to Salineas the other day?” Adora pointedly asked, and didn’t wait for an answer. “I mean, why would you even bring Catra to Salineas? It’s got the three things she hates most in the world - water, the crushing weight of guilt for what she did to Mermista, and Sea Hawk."

“Maybe that’s just it, Adora. Given the history you two have, it makes sense that Catra would feel more comfortable facing her demons with someone like Glimmer.”

“Oh, yeah? What _demons_ did she need to face in Mystacor today?”

Bow sighed. “Look, a relationship has to be based on trust. I know Glimmer would never do that to me, and you have to believe the same of Catra. I mean - has she given you any reason to doubt her feelings, any reason at all?”

“No,” Adora was forced to admit, groaning. “She’s literally an angel, and I’ve never felt so loved in my life. I guess that’s why I’m so scared of losing her.”

Bow softened, thinking about his first few weeks dating Glimmer. How he’d always been more fond of her than anybody else, but her confession had opened doors for him he’d never known of, love he’d never thought possible. “And you won’t, okay? It’s like you said - she loves you.”

“Yeah,” Adora nodded, mostly to herself. When she looked up, her attention was caught by something outside the window. “Oh! They’re back.”

Catra and Glimmer had indeed just materialized in the gardens and were walking to the front gates. The way Adora sprinted to the end of the corridor told Bow all he needed to know about her current emotional state. “You’ve missed her, haven’t you?”

But she wasn’t rushing to the end of the corridor. She stopped in front of a larger window, looking down directly below, from where she could see Catra and Glimmer better. Her fingers clawed at the glass, and Bow knew something was wrong.

For one, they were holding hands. This was pretty par for the course, considering Glimmer needed to be touching people to teleport them along with her. It alone wouldn’t have been enough to warrant Adora’s rage.

The other half of it was that their foreheads were pressed together and they were looking at each other candidly, Glimmer using the hand that wasn’t still holding Catra’s to trace her cheek.

For the first time in his life, Bow had to admit that perhaps, he wasn’t totally immune to jealousy.

He dragged Adora away before she could smash in the window, but they both welcomed their girlfriends with incredibly tense smiles.

**iii.**

Just because Catra and Glimmer never invited them to join their missions anymore didn’t mean Adora and Bow didn’t have missions of their own.

Even three years after the end of the war, Adora was still summoned from all corners of the planet, needing She-Ra’s help with reconstruction, or fighting off the last few clones left, or settling disputes between neighboring kingdoms.

The journey to the Crimson Waste, though, was always very long, very lonely, and the trip almost always unproductive. New rival gangs to Huntara’s were rising every day, and while the woman refused to let her home and free haven be placed under the tutelage of the crown, she also never seemed to hesitate calling on She-Ra when it suited her.

As a result, Adora was aggravated, emptied out, and absolutely exhausted. She and Glimmer would need to have a conversation about Huntara eventually, but right now, all she wanted to do was crawl into bed with her girlfriend, who she hadn’t seen in a _week_ , and let herself be held.

God, she’d missed Catra so much. She’d asked her to come with her - of course she had - but as the queen’s closest advisor, she’d had her own work to deal with. So Adora had hugged her goodbye and pressed kisses into her quickly-growing hair, and dreamed about when they’d see each other again.

The door to her room squeaked open, and Adora figured maybe she wouldn’t have to wait until the morning to talk to Glimmer.

It was pretty late, so it was no surprise that Catra was fast asleep already. What troubled Adora was that _Glimmer_ was snoozing on her shoulder, and that they’d apparently fallen asleep entangled in the same bed, papers strewn on the floor and across the sheets.

And listen, Adora was spent. Adora was tired. She’d expected an empty, dark room, only to find the light still on and shining over one of the worst things she’d ever seen. She didn’t have the emotional capacity to rationalize any of that in a logical way; and so she screamed.

Catra and Glimmer bolted up on the bed at the same time like waking up from a nightmare. They were thankfully _clothed_ , but Adora kept seeing it in her mind, how Glimmer had been all over Catra when she’d walked in.

“Adora!” Catra greeted, a bit groggily. “You’re back.”

“Chill, it's just me,” Glimmer muttered, not nearly as apologetic as she should’ve been. “We fell asleep doing paperwork. There was-” A yawn, “- _so much_ of it.”

Catra was climbing out of bed like nothing was wrong and tackling Adora with a hug, leaving soft, affectionate kisses all over her neck. Catra had always been at her neediest at night, and Adora felt like that was something only _she_ was meant to see. Not Glimmer, who was currently still stirring in her - _their_ \- bed.

A purr rumbled out of Catra’s throat as she held Adora close. “Did you have a good trip, baby?”

Glimmer was starting to collect the papers, meaning that she was hopefully on her way out. “Yeah,” Adora said, trying to focus on her girlfriend alone. “I’ve missed you.”

Catra smiled brightly. “I missed you too,” she said, and kissed her like Adora hadn’t just woken her up screaming.

**iv.**

So maybe Adora had a point.

Maybe, just maybe, there was a possibility that he, too, would have had his fair share of suspicions if he’d found Catra and Glimmer in bed together like that. It wasn’t like Glimmer hadn’t expressed any interest towards Catra before, and while Catra had only ever had eyes for Adora, she and Glimmer were similar enough that they could understand each other better than anyone else in the world.

Bow couldn’t deny that the thought bothered him, and that it brought him to overcompensate by cranking up on all five love languages. However, he also trusted Glimmer to tell him if she found he wasn’t enough for her, instead of going behind his back.

Obviously, it was possible that they were just overthinking it. Catra and Glimmer were friends, growing closer by the day, and shouldn’t he and Adora be happy that they were bonding? That these two people who’d only had one friend their whole life had been able to latch onto each other, too?

For all reasons and purposes - yes. But even with the enormous strides they’d made in their relationship, he felt Catra and Glimmer were still not _nearly_ close enough to keep each other’s _underwear_.

Bow didn’t mean to snoop around Glimmer’s drawers - but she’d left her room a mess, and he was simply being a good boyfriend and helping her clean up as he always did. So while Glimmer teleported up to the bed and down again to change the sheets, Bow collected her clothes from the floor and backs of chairs and carried them back to their rightful place - where red lingerie lay bundled up.

“Uh, Glimmer?”

She popped up next to him. “Yeah?” He didn’t miss her eyes widening as she followed his line of sight.

“Are these supposed to be yours?”

“Yes. Absolutely,” Glimmer nodded resolutely.

“I’ve never seen you wear red in my life.”

“I’m branching out.”

Bow stared at her. Glimmer stared back. She was blushing furiously.

“Not that I’m going to tell you what to do,” Bow said slowly, “but I don’t think this is your color.”

“What do you know? Maybe you’re right.” Glimmer snatched the red bundle away from him. He hadn’t dared touch it, but that looked like a lot of lace. “I’ll return it in the morning. Go back to my roots.”

“Sure, okay. You do that.”

 _Trust your girlfriend!_ His inner Bow was screaming. _If she really is lying, she’ll have a damn good reason._

But Adora’s voice, coming from the recesses of his mind, was louder: _I told you._

**v.**

Personally, Adora thought enough was enough.

She’d always wanted to believe the best of Catra - even when her girlfriend had been one portal away from destroying reality - but anyone with eyes and ears could have noticed the frustration simmering under her skin, the carefully contained rage whenever she spoke. She’d _also_ worked really hard to believe she deserved good things, and maybe some of those included honesty and openness in a relationship.

She didn’t want to discard the Bow-model entirely, but well - trust only went so far, and it wasn’t a substitute to actual, mature conversation.

So on one winter morning that seemed to announce the coming of spring, Adora and Bow gathered Catra and Glimmer by Lake Bright Moon’s shores under the guise of a picnic and decided to set the record straight.

Despite the tension of the past few days, their girlfriends didn’t seem on edge. Bow carried the picnic basket a few steps ahead of them, too quick on his feet, while Catra and Glimmer lagged behind, knocking shoulders and laughing. They either thought themselves slicker than they actually were, or were gonna turn out to be even crueller.

Adora didn’t know which one she would rather.

“So. Figured we should all be here for this talk.”

Catra had perfected the look of complete innocence. She waited for the blanket to be set down, then dropped down on it and snatched a bunch of breadsticks from Bow’s basket. “About what?”

“ _Betrayal_!” Bow pulled the rest of the food away, holding it hostage from Glimmer who was _also_ reaching out for it. “We know what you two are doing.”

At the very least, Catra and Glimmer had the decency to look ashamed. Catra had frozen in the midst of chewing and had crumbs plastered all over her chin.

“Who _told_ you?” Glimmer whined, her pitch rising to a squeak at the end. “We were so careful.”

Which was _not_ the response Adora expected. This was insulting. Her blood pressure was spiking, and she needed to sit.

“You weren’t _careful_ at all. Did you think we were idiots?”

Catra finally managed to swallow and threw herself back on the blanket in a dramatic show of frustration. “Great going, Sparkles.”

Glimmer’s dejectedness let it be known that this was a sore subject between her and Catra, and something they’d already amply discussed. “It was the lingerie, was it?”

“It was all of it,” Bow nodded, “but especially the lingerie.”

So this really was it. Adora and Bow were right.

The one time she let herself want, and _this_ was how it ended? With Catra groaning: “At least tell me you haven’t shown it to Adora. This might still be salvageable.”

“What does it matter if I’ve seen it or not?” Adora retorted, refusing to take her judging eyes off Catra. Catra glanced back, looking very confused. “It still happened, and instead of telling us right away, you went behind our backs. There _is_ no salvaging.”

“Whoa, now wait a minute,” Catra said, pushing herself back into a sitting position. She tried to put her hands on Adora’s shoulders - an attempt to comfort her, maybe? - but Adora just shook her off. “Adora, I didn’t think you’d be this mad.”

“Are you kidding me? Why _wouldn’t_ I be mad?” Adora realized she was very near screaming, but she didn’t care. No one could hear. They’d chosen the lake for this exact reason. “You know what, Catra, I’ve made it very clear that you don’t _belong_ to me, and that you’re free to make your own choices, alright? But I still expected to know if anything changed for you and you wanted to break up. Instead, I have to find out from-”

“Wait, _what_?” Glimmer screeched, at the same time Catra blankly asked: “What the hell are you talking about?”

Then, because doubt was taking root into Adora’s mind and keeping her from speaking, Bow helpfully supplied: “About… you cheating?”

For a while, the only sound was waves crashing on the rocks. Catra and Glimmer took that in silently, surprise and genuine costernation written all over their faces. “ _Why_ would you think that?”

“Catra’s lingerie in your drawer, for starters,” Adora scoffed.

“And you’re always disappearing places together,” Bow explained, though now he looked doubtful as well, “for no good reason. Adora and I asked Mermista for news about Seaworthy a while ago - she never made any mention of a new pirate crew.”

“I mean, what else would you not want us to find out about?”

“ _Fine_!” Glimmer growled. She actually _growled,_ better than Catra ever could. “The surprise isn’t worth the mess. We were planning a Best Friend Squad romantic getaway, and we _ruined_ it.”

It was such a random, unexpected response that neither Bow nor Adora knew how to react, but amid that hesitation, the basket was set down again. Four hands started to dig in distractedly.

Glimmer’s words sounded entirely nonsensical, like asking _what do you want for dinner_ and getting _5 am_ as an answer. Yet Catra was nodding in agreement.

“You and Bow have been working so hard, and we didn’t want you to worry about anything at all for a few days. We did all that paperwork for you guys so you could afford to take a break soon. It wasn’t just some excuse we made up to justify falling asleep together or whatever - we really were exhausted.”

“We also toured Etheria for a bit, asking the princesses to keep an eye on things while we were gone. And of course, we visited Mystacor as well, to make sure Aunt Castaspella was okay with us coming.”

Adora hated that that was all it took for her voice to soften. “You were planning to take us to Mystacor?”

“Well, yeah. Glimmer’s told me a lot about the steaming grotto, and how fun and relaxing it would be for all of us. I couldn’t pass it up.”

“But Catra - you hate water.”

“Yeah, well. I was pretty shaken when I came back, but - Glimmer convinced me I could do it, and I believed her.” She shrugged, but there was a little smile playing on her lips. “She’s pretty good at comforting people, it turns out.”

Bow reached for the last tuna sandwich before she could. “And how did your underwear turn up in Glimmer’s room, exactly?”

“ _Look_. We’re leaving for a romantic getaway. I definitely couldn’t hide it in my _own_ drawer and let Adora see it before its time, could I?”

A chorus of _Ooohh_ s and _Right, right_ rose from the group.

“Adora, did you really think I’d ever cheat on you? And with _Sparkles_ of all people?”

“I don’t know!” Adora replied, feeling more lost than ever. “It’s not like Glimmer finds you disgusting or anything. She made that _very_ clear when she pictured you in a hot villain outfit.”

“When she did _what_.”

“I’m literally gonna have a stroke,” Glimmer muttered into her hands.

“Aw, don’t be embarrassed,” Catra drawled, looking _very much_ like she wanted to embarrass Glimmer for the rest of her life. “I had the same effect on Adora, though she’d never admit it.”

“See! That’s why we were so insecure. Though you’d never cheat on us, there’s still this _tension_ between you two, and we never know when it’s gonna blow up. You hold each other tenderly, and cuddle in bed together, and spend so much time together-”

“Yeah, and just now Catra bit my finger because I tried to take some scones off her plate. True romance goals, you guys.”

“That’s just how Catra shows affection, and it does, in fact, prove my point.”

“Okay,” Bow said, probably sniffing a storm on the horizon. He had his conflict resolution voice on, the one Adora remembered from the last time she and Glimmer really fought. She wouldn’t even call this a _fight_ \- they were having a discussion. The fact that Glimmer’s closeness to Catra brought up old insecurities of Adora’s had nothing to do with it. Probably. “We understand what you’re saying, and we do trust you guys. But since clearly _some_ mutual attraction is at play here, maybe it would be best for everyone if you… you know… just acted on it.”

“What?” Catra and Glimmer said.

“What?” Adora echoed. She usually trusted Bow with her life, but he couldn’t possibly be suggesting _that_.

“I think feelings are worth exploring, no matter how shallow they are. If you do decide to pursue them, it doesn’t mean we have to break up - we’re best friends, okay? We’ll sit down to talk and figure things out. And if you don’t - well, at least you’ll know, and that’s gonna be one less problem for everyone to worry about, right?”

Technically, you couldn’t argue with that logic. Adora, who’d only recently submitted to the mortifying ordeal of wanting things, still could certainly try.

Though it seemed Catra preceded her on that front. “Look, there’s nothing to figure out. Glimmer and I are friends. Adora looks at other girls too, but I know it’s me she loves.”

“Oh, do you?” Adora muttered under her breath, recalling _several_ fights they’d had over that very subject.

“It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Humans have an infinite capacity for love,” Bow said. “What we were worried about was you going behind our backs, and you weren’t. Anything else is completely fine.”

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing,” Catra insisted. “I’ll do it now, okay? I’ll kiss Glimmer right now. If sparks start flying or anything, I’ll let you know.”

“Isn’t there someone you forgot to ask - _oh_!” Glimmer screeched, teleporting far away from Catra as she started leaning in. “Romance really is dead,” she screamed from the edge of the woods.

“It doesn’t have to be right now,” Bow said. “Just - consider it, okay? This is me, giving you my permission.”

Adora stared. Everyone stared expectantly back, until Bow shoved an elbow into Adora’s side.

“ _Fine_ ,” Adora muttered. “I’m not gonna pretend like I’m completely okay with it, but that’s my problem - not yours. If you realize this is something you want, then we’ll work it out.” Then at Bow, who was smiling proudly like he’d just seen a chicken hatch: “You happy now?”

“Very,” Bow nodded, looking at all of them in turn. “Well, what are we waiting for? Get back here, Glimmer! Looks like we’ve got a trip to plan.”

“Thank God,” Catra groaned. “I’m never gonna plan a surprise for you again if _this_ is what secrecy leads to. Infinite capacity for love notwithstanding.”

**\+ i.**

The morning in Mystacor was cloudy - which could’ve sounded like a pun, given the nature of the kingdom, but was not. The sun always took its sweet time showing up, one of the many, many reasons Catra still wondered why they’d chosen this place.

Another one, obviously, was the grotto. While tubs were better than showers, Catra had yet to find the courage to sit in one of them alongside her friends. The day before, she’d ended up sunbathing on the tub’s edge while Adora, Bow and Glimmer relaxed in their own way.

Nonetheless, this was where she was directed, because there was nowhere else in Mystacor someone on vacation would be when the beach was a no-go.

“Thought I’d find you here,” Catra muttered, announcing her presence. Glimmer’s head whipped around to look at her.

“Catra? You’re up early.”

“It’s ten. It’s Adora and Bow who are sleeping late.”

Glimmer sighed, sinking further into the bubbling water. “They deserve it. Bow has been so uptight the last few days.”

Catra walked up to her, head peeking out over the tub’s edge. “I think that also has something to do with him thinking his girlfriend was cheating.”

“Yeah. Can you believe they really thought we had a crush on each other?”

“I don’t think you have any room to speak, Hot Villain Outfit.”

Glimmer turned around to actually face her, annoyance written all over her. “Is that why you came here? To laugh at me?”

“No,” Catra replied. “I’m here to try the grotto.”

Her statement was followed by absolute disbelief, so she figured it was time to dramatically take off all her clothes to reveal the bathing suit she was wearing underneath. She had no idea why the custom was to wear bandages, but it was a stupid custom - therefore it didn’t apply to her.

She did not miss Glimmer’s eyes on her body as she got close to the bathtub and dipped a hand in.

“Don’t you bathe at home?” Glimmer wondered, though it was entirely free of judgment. “Do you do this every time?”

“Our bathtub doesn’t have this much water in it,” Catra explained, “so there’s no risk of drowning.” She tried the other hand, testing the grotto’s depth.

“It’s not too different. See, I’m shorter than you, and I can sit with the water barely reaching my chest.” She held out a hand to Catra, who looked at it sceptically. “I told you, it will be okay. No one is watching, right?”

Right. Maybe that was exactly the reason why Catra was trying this now and not in front of a whole group of people - even if the person with her wasn’t Adora.

In some ways, exactly because of it. It was a nice change, after a life spent needing Adora so much she could have burned the world down over it.

She took Glimmer’s hand and let herself be guided into the water. She bristled at first as she lowered herself down into it, some piece of primal fear yelling at her to run away - but the water was nice and hot, and definitely not deep enough to drown or be drowned in. Even if it was, she trusted Glimmer not to.

They sat in front of each other, still holding each other’s hands.

“So,” Catra broke the silence as soon as she was comfortable enough, “do you mind describing the outfit you imagined me in?”

Glimmer blushed, and while it might have been the heat of the grotto, it was peculiar that it was only affecting her now. “It was this… black, tight dress, with a slit down the leg. Your hair was all long and straightened down, and I think you wore heels.”

“You pictured me like _that_?” Catra couldn’t help but laugh. “What about our encounters made you think I would ever be that refined?”

“I mean, nothing in particular. Your vibe, mostly.”

“My vibe.”

“I was a sheltered kid, okay? Having a rival for the first time was exciting. And then I got to know you better, and you were just like me, except a _me_ I’d never seen before. I may hate it, but I’ll always be _a little_ fascinated by you.”

Something about the way Glimmer strung those sentences together hit Catra more than she expected. “A little?”

“If you’re gonna keep making fun of me, at least allow me to do the same.”

That seemed fair. Catra finally broke the grip on Glimmer’s hand and floated away, sitting back on the other side of the tub in a way that she hoped conveyed confidence. “What do you wanna know?”

“Come on. I don’t believe you never thought of me that way.”

She sighed. “Look, feelings are messed up, okay? It’s like you said - we’re so similar, I can’t help but see myself in you. That can mean a hundred different things, depending on the day.”

Glimmer was staring at her unabashedly. The tips of her hair were wet. “What does it mean today?”

“I think-” Catra started, then thought better of it. That was still to be seen. “I think I’d like to find out.”

 _If that’s okay with you_ was implied both in her tone and in the careful stares they shared afterwards, trying to figure out if the other’s intention was the same as they figured.

By the time Glimmer floated up to her, legs braced around Catra’s thighs, any doubt was gone.

“I’ve only ever kissed Bow,” Glimmer whispered in the small space between their lips.

Catra replied: “I’ve only ever kissed Adora.”

Adora. _What was she doing?_ After all the years spent pining after Adora and wanting her to herself, was she going to turn out to be a hypocrite, after all?

Worse - was she going to regret this?

“Hey.” Glimmer’s hand came up to touch Catra’s face, thumb brushing her cheek slowly. “I promise I’ll be gentle.”

Gentleness was not, in fact, what Catra was worried about.

True to her word, Glimmer started the kiss as barely more than a peck, gluing their lips together by way of her lipstick. Who even wore lipstick in the morning to take a _bath_ , Catra wondered. The only explanation was that Glimmer’s magic just made her entire body taste like glitter all the time, which frankly was not a thought Catra should’ve had.

Glimmer tried to deepen the kiss, closing her mouth more firmly over Catra’s upper lip, but Catra was frozen in place. She did the first thing that came to mind, and that was to bite Glimmer’s lip. Adora usually liked it, and Glimmer seemed to like it, too, if her little noise of surprise was any indication. This convinced Catra that she was doing well, and brought her to try again, and again, each time harder than before, until she bit harshly enough to draw blood and Glimmer yelped in pain.

“ _Sorry,_ ” Catra screeched, unsuccessfully trying to cover up her panic. “Let me try again.”

She tried to soothe the sting of the bite with a flick of her tongue, and Glimmer’s mouth eagerly opened under it. Her hands reached up to Catra’s hair, digging into it to draw her closer, and they found themselves in a really uncomfortable position - their noses knocking together, Catra’s lips barely landing on the corner of Glimmer’s mouth.

Her first kisses with Adora hadn’t been perfect, obviously; but because it was Adora, it hadn’t mattered as much. She’d loved the noses knocking together, and the little yelps, and the shy laughter against her lips. Kissing Glimmer was more like holding her breath indefinitely, just waiting for it to end and to feel comfortable in her skin again.

It wasn’t too long before they both pulled apart, gasping like maybe Catra had been wrong about the impossibility of drowning.

“That was horrible.”

“Horrible,” Glimmer agreed.

Some of Glimmer’s lipstick lingered on Catra’s mouth, which distressed Catra to no end. She got her hand wet again, tried to wash it away, then blabbered: “What do you need that much glitter for? Honestly, I don’t really wanna know. I don’t ever want to be closer than ten feet from you.”

Glimmer blinked slowly, looking perfectly unaffected by Catra’s criticism, then blankly stated: “I just thought it was really lame.”

“ _Lame_?”

“Well, obviously the sexy villainess was just a façade,” Glimmer explained. “It’s ridiculous. You’ve lost most of the charm for me. Now that I know what you’re really like, and I know what a bad kisser you are -”

“ _You_ kissed _me_.”

“And you just _stood_ there.”

Catra groaned, shoving Glimmer away. Glimmer shoved back, and so on and so forth.

The sun was finally starting to peek through the clouds, meaning it was getting pretty late.

When their partners found them, Glimmer was lying back on Catra’s chest, fast asleep. Catra shook her head at their silent question, even as she kept Glimmer’s head in place, and neither thought anything more of it.


End file.
